About

Gavin Orchards currently has 80 acres of bearing apple trees and 25 acres of young trees not yet bearing. They also have 2 acres of Red Haven peaches and 4 acres of sweet cherries. In addition to fruit, they grow cucumbers, pickles, bell peppers, tomatoes, corn and eggplant commercially.
In 2007, we were audited and certified by primus-labs in 3 catagories..

  • packing house
  • harvest crew
  • ranch.

In 2008 our audit results were..

  • harvest 100%
  • packing house 97%
  • ranch 99%

On the two that were not 100%, we have made the corrective actions and are 100% certified in all areas.   These audits ask for proof of cleanliness, sanitation logs, recall procedures, food safety manuals, good management practices, good ag practices, standard operating procedures, water test results(drinking, camp and irrigation), licenses (both business and camp)… and alot more!
We also keep a chemical, pesticide logs.  Dave Gavin has certification to use these, and attends classes throughout the year to stay up dated. The classes are called IPM (integrated pest management.  The logs record when, where, what and how much was applied.
We also have shipping and cooling unit logs.  These logs make sure the produce is kept at the right temperature at all times.
Our recall procedure can track our produce all the way back to the seed before it is planted and where we bought it from.

HISTORY
Gavin Orchards has existed for almost 30 years. Joe Gavin started renting and farming the land in 1967. In 1975, he purchased the land from Ben and Erma Breen. The farm consisted of about 206 acres. There were about 80 acres of apples, 3 acres of pears, 6 acres of sour cherries, an acre of sweet cherries, and a little over an acre of peaches.